Today we left Panguitch. After a last “delicious” breakfast in the motel – it was by far the paltriest breakfast we had, not even jam, only butter and toast – we packed our bags and hit the road.
About 1.5 hours later we reached the Zion National Park. Last time visiting rocks! We drove through the park and stopped from time to time to have a look at the colossal rocks. Amidst the route there was a 1.1 mile long tunnel, what didn’t leave some of us cool. And it really was bloody dark therein! But thankfully we reached the tunnel exit and the daylight without wounds, and after some winds in the road we reached the Visitor Center. From there on the bigger part of the park can only be visited using bus shuttles. So we got into a shuttle and went to the park’s end. Unfortunately after 4 stops a number of Russian tourists were entering the bus, what could be seen at first sight, heard, and a little later smelled. But finally we had reached the destination and went off the bus. We took a little walk along Virgin River, which carried a lot of water compared to our last visit. On the way we could observe a rattle snake, which however took its heels quiet fast because of the crowd. With the next but one shuttle we started towards the Visitor Center again, left the bus for two more times in that route to get impressed by the huge cliffs. Eventually we reached the Visitor Center and headed on for today’s destination – Las Vegas.
The trip took two hours, led mainly over I-15, and short before reaching it we had a small traffic jam because of the rush hour and some road work. And: 32°C! At last the heat was back… Then we reached the Circus Circus Hotel which was our accommodation for the next 4 nights. Finding a parking lot, going to the reception and checking in – this took about half an hour. Then we went to the Manor – five smaller buildings besides the big hotel towers are called like that, and moved into our rooms. A little fresh up, then we all wanted only one thing: we were hungry! So we went to the main building and looked for the Circus Buffet. Arriving there we found out that the prices had risen here quite a lot, too, but the heck with it – our stomachs were louder than the complaints about that, and so we enjoyed the buffet. And it was that tasty that we all could find an end nearly overate… But at least no one had to stay hungry.
After that we took a little evening walk along the Strip. And we all could only be astonished: some because of the tremendous variety of hotels, lights, shows, sights, some because there had so much changed during the last years. We went up to the Mirage and took a look there at the artificial volcano eruption, and then we went back to the hotel because we all were tired. Having arrived there we wished a good night to each other and had a well-deserved sleep.
